Area 51

The C.I.A. has finally admitted the existence of Area 51. No, they haven’t admitted there were aliens there. Pretty much, the C.I.A. has come clean on what we knew all along: Area 51 was used as a proving ground for cutting edge spy plane technology. The U-2 spy plane was built there, captured Russian MiGs were experimented on, and the B2 stealth bomber and F117 stealth fighter were created there.

Unfortunately, the report basically stops mentioning Area 51 in 1973. Many people believe that secret government aeronautics operations have moved to Utah and Colorado. As the focus shifts from air to space/air duality, the needs change. Many say that the technical needs of military space operations would be better suited for Area 6413 in The White Sands Missile Range.

That isn’t to say that there is nothing more than secret military testing going on in these places. In 1947, so the story goes, a flying saucer crashed in Roswell New Mexico. Military personnel supposedly found three humanoid aliens and took them back to Area 51. While the details are often debated, a full 21% of Americans think that the U.S. government is covering up evidence of alien existence.

Another tale of Area 51 involves the faking of the moon landing and none other than Stanley Kubrick. Shortly after 2001: A Space Odyssey debuted, Kubrick built the set in Area 51 and filmed the moon landing seen around the world in 1969. Some say that Kubrick received funding to make 2001 by agreeing to fake the landing. Others believe that The Shining was a veiled admission of the event. The evidence ranges from Danny’s Apollo 11 shirt to repeated references to bears (representing Russia).

Whatever is going on in them, the government definitely has black sites around the world. A classified presidential directive authorized many of these sites on September 17, 2001. Some are used for ghost detention and enforced disappearances. Many of the current detainees in Guantanamo were processed through such sites.